Blog

Status of this blog

The time has come to archive this blog. The purpose of this blog was to serve as a historical account of wide-scale pollution that lasted over 100 years that affected many lives. History is important. Without it, we will repeat the same mistakes. In this fast-paced modern world, it gets buried online and we can’t…

The Park Now

Eastman Business Park as it’s known has changed significantly in the past 10 years. Much of the buildings are rented to other companies that use the infrastructure The Park offers. This website details the companies operating in The Park. Tenant List 2016 Tenant List 2018 The pollution levels have significantly decreased since 2014, which can…

The Cancer Maps

I get inquiries from time to time asking if there are still cancer clusters and what things look like today. I’m not a statistician, but from what I can determine looking at the cancer maps for NY from 2003 and 2015, I think the situation has improved. These maps included all cancers reported in the…

What Residents Don’t Miss

It used to be a gamble waking up every morning and wondering what you would see when you look out the window. Kodak always had a habit of cranking up the stacks at night or very early in the morning. It was almost as if they thought maybe no one was looking. I’m sure it’s…

The Park becomes gas powered

It has been a long wait for most of us watching the process of moving from coal-fired generators in Eastman Business Park to that of natural gas.  Years actually. For some time it seemed it might not happen because of how slow the process was moving but finally in January 2018 the gas generator is…

No More Coal

Kodak has announced in this 2012 media report, that another company that has purchased the Kodak generation power plants and they plan to upgrade it to natural gas sometime in the next 5 years. While I have not heard anything recently about this acquisition the paperwork was finished up in 2013. Let’s hope RED is…

Burn Permit No. 6

The burn permit details a long list of chemicals, many of them are carcinogenic. According to this permit there are stipulations to be added or followed for the boilers in current operation. It references Boilers 41, 42, 43, and 44. Boiler 41 is to be shut down in the end of 2013. Boiler 44 is…

How much coal did Kodak use in 2010?

Well turns out a lot more than most people realize. I found a 2010 article from Zack Seward at Innovation Trail that researched this question. How Much Coal Does Kodak Burn? That’s a lot of coal which makes a lot of coal ash. To add insult to that, Kodak used to have 2 coal fired…

What is on the beach?

A resident out for a walk on the first warm day this year found the beach littered with bits of black coal and pieces of boiler slag. Where is this stuff coming from? How did it get in the lake and wash up on shore? If it didn’t come from the lake, where is it…

The cost of film production

If you don’t live near a chemical plant or some sort of industry it’s not likely you know that there is a cost to your health. Residents may not even know it either until it’s too late. Man industries that use chemicals of any kind, affect the health of employees and residents in the area.…

Kodak was nuclear…no really!

A bit of unknown history about The Park was that they used to have a nuclear reactor that housed 3.5 pounds of uranium. Granted, it was the size of a refrigerator, but it could still do some damage if something went wrong. It was used for experiments to develop filming techniques. It may have been…

The New Kodak Business Park

According to Eastman Business Park, many companies have bought or taken over buildings in The Park. While it is nice not to have an empty graveyard, most residents don’t know who or what is in The Park now. These are the companies operating in the business park. I have not researched their prospective environmental footprint…

History of Eastman: Founder of Kodak

Kodak had an interesting and long history starting in 1888 with its founder George Eastman who used to develop film in his bathtub in his youth. Film and photography became a passion for him. He built an empire out of photography.  George had a host of health problems and suffered a heart condition, severe diabetes,…

Kodak Park Falls

A few residents might recall when some of the buildings came down in 2007. Both current and former employees remember it with sadness. It was a big event and the mourning for many of a giant nearing the end of its life. People lined up to witness the demolitions. I often wonder if they ever…

Black Gunk On the Beach

Residents that have lived most of their lives in the area report finding film caskets on the beach. A film casket is a black wooden crate resembling a small casket. It is ironic since it’s unclear if that’s an approved disposal method for these wooden crates that often contain film or other things. I just…

Toxic Release Report Improves

The local news reports that pollution is down but Kodak is still the largest polluter in the county by a huge margin. The primary water releases are nitrates. This may explain why there is serious algae overgrowth in the river and lake. Past reports from residents and local news mention nearly constant closure of Durand…

A company town

Few people understand what a company town is unless they have lived in one. Growing up in a company town is something all its own. A company town is a community that relies on one company to provide a place to work, live and shop. They will build schools and housing or donate towards them.…

Did the share holders know?

Many wonders if shareholders or higher-up officials working at Kodak knew about the problems with toxic releases and the poor record keeping and reporting. Some suspect that surely someone knew and kept it quiet. If employees knew about illegal dumping and burning, they knew. Some stories from former employees about situations of spills occurring and…

Archive Article from Citizens Coalition

Kodak’s Deadly Dioxin as reported by Citizens Coalition in 2002. Kodak’s hazardous waste incinerator, Building 218, Kodak Park, Rochester, NY The United State Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Draft Dioxin Reassessment report, concluded for the first time that dioxin is a “human carcinogen” and that virtually every American has a body load of dioxin that is…

EPA Violations

Many residents were aware and complained about the smells coming from The Park and their health problems. Kodak has been fined many times and told to clean up its act. The following is a list of many of these violations. There may be more. *sources from kodaktoxiccolors.org which no longer exists. 2000-2001 In July 2001…

Chemicals In Bedrock and Ground Water

People assume that the problem is over because Kodak filed for bankruptcy. However, that’s not true. They did file it, but The Park is still in use. They have not exactly left town. They haven’t remediated 100 years of toxic contamination.  According to EPA records, Kodak Park consists of several areas called; KPE, KPW, KPX,…

Toxic Schools

A little-known issue affecting residents living around The Park is the schools that lie within a short distance of the fence line. Two of the most affected schools are School #41 known as Kodak Park School and another school which has had various names over the years but is on Hoover Drive. Its backyard faces…

History of The Park Pollution

Reading the toxic release inventories and other government documents regarding Kodak and contamination are pretty revealing. Of the things mentioned are that toxic chemicals have leached into bedrock under Kodak Park into surrounding neighborhoods. Contamination has been found in nearby schools, the river, the air and the water. Childhood leukemia and brain cancer clusters have…

Living under the stacks

In the 1980s, there were complaints and chatter in the local news about the eye-watering, throat-burning acetone smell. Kodak tried to blame it on the cemetery down the street. Anyone that drove through The Park was familiar with the awful smell that made their eyes burn and their throats hurt. They had to roll up…

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